Twitter has become the fastest way for news to spread and a new way for businesses to connect directly with potential and existing customers - creating a framework with endless business opportunities. Hootsuite helps you realize this potential by providing powerful, yet easy to use Twitter functionality that streamlines your social media presence. Whether you are new to Twitter, Hootsuite or social media in general, this guide will give you an overview of everything you will need to know to get started with Twitter and the Hootsuite dashboard.

1. A Guide by the Social Media Coaches
GUIDE
Twitter for
Hootsuite

2. 2SOCIAL MEDIA COACH GUIDE — TWITTER FOR HOOTSUITE
Twitter for Hootsuite
A Guide by the Social Media Coaches
Getting started with Twitter and the Hootsuite dashboard
Twitter has become the fastest way for news to spread
and a new way for businesses to connect directly
with potential and existing customers — creating
a framework with endless business opportunities.
Hootsuite helps you realize this potential by providing
powerful, yet easy to use Twitter functionality that
streamlines your social media presence.
Whether you are new to Twitter, Hootsuite or social
media in general, this guide will give you an overview
of everything you will need to know to get started with
Twitter and the Hootsuite dashboard.
What can Twitter do for my business?
Twitter can help you build relationships with customers,
and connect you with the businesses and communities
you are interested in. You can also use Twitter to create
brand awareness, market new products and gain
feedback from your customers.
In an infographic Twitter released this year they found
that once someone follows your business on Twitter,
they’re much more likely to turn into customers.
Those followers-turned-customers also end up driving
traffic to your sites, which becomes the best kind of
recommendation.
“People are more likely (72%) to make a future purchase
from an SMB after they follow or interact with them on
Twitter. We also see a lift (30%) in people who are likely
to recommend. Why do recommendations matter?
Because they drive traffic: 86% of respondents said they
are more likely to visit an SMB if a friend recommends
them.” How small and medium-sized businesses
benefit from their Twitter presence.

3. 3SOCIAL MEDIA COACH GUIDE — TWITTER FOR HOOTSUITE
Twitter Best Practices for
Business
Now that you have your Twitter account set up, here
are some best practices to help you reach your
business goals.
1. Follow people in your industry
To maximize the potential of Twitter, follow Twitter
accounts that are of interest to you. Whether that’s
industry resources, customers, business associations, or
industry publications. Fill your list with interesting and
inspiring accounts.
Not sure where to start? Follow a company that is
relevant to your industry or customer base, then see
who they follow.
2. Engagement is key to follower loyalty
In the age of Netflix and TiVo, people who watch
television aren’t forced to sit through commercials. The
same premise applies to social media. If all you do is
advertise your product or service, people will ignore
your Tweets. Reach out and talk to your followers on a
person-to-person level and thank them for following or
Tweeting about you. Respond to ALL customer service
questions, good and bad, and join conversations about
your brand to show people that you’re listening. It will
make a massive difference to your social media success.
3. Schedule posts so you’re always active
You sleep, but social media doesn’t. Scheduling Tweets
is an easy way to maintain an active Twitter presence,
without always being at the computer. This is especially
valuable if you have an international clientele or
following, as you can schedule content for prime times
in various time zones. Scheduling is a very valuable asset
for businesses, but as mentioned above, you still need
to engage personally with your audience. The key is to
finding a perfect mix.
4. Post non-branded content that will be
interesting for your audience.
Again, Twitter can’t be treated as a broadcast tool for
your business. You need to engage, and you also need
to share content that is relevant and interesting to your
audience. Just because someone follows you, doesn’t
mean they want all of your business updates and press
releases. Create and curate content that is interesting
and relevant to your audience. Track industry related
hashtags and share the best content. For every Tweet
about your product or business, have at least one
or several Tweets about your industry or themes of
broader interest.
“With 500 million Tweets a day and
230 million active users, people turn
to Twitter to bring them closer to the
things they care about, whether it’s
the news that affects their lives or
the businesses down the block.”
How small and medium-sized businesses
benefit from their Twitter presence

4. 4SOCIAL MEDIA COACH GUIDE — TWITTER FOR HOOTSUITE
Setting Up Your Hootsuite Dashboard
Now that you’re using Twitter for business, it’s time to
get Hootsuite involved. The Hootsuite dashboard will
help you manage and optimize your Twitter presence,
so that you make the most of the time spent on social
media.
1. Add a Twitter Profile to Hootsuite
Adding a Twitter profile to your Hootsuite dashboard will
give you access to many exciting social media functions
like being able to publish messages (Tweets), track
brand mentions, and schedule messages.
1. Click “Add Social Network.”
2. Select Twitter.
3. Connect your Twitter account.
2. Add Twitter Streams
Once you have added your Twitter profile to Hootsuite,
you can start to create valuable streams. The following
are the different kinds of streams you can add to your
dashboard:
‹‹ Home Feed
‹‹ Mentions
‹‹ Sent Tweets
‹‹ Favorite Tweets
‹‹ Twitter Lists
‹‹ Direct Messages (Inbox and Outbox)
‹‹ My Tweets Retweeted
‹‹ Scheduled Tweets
‹‹ New Followers
‹‹ Twitter Search Streams
Use Twitter lists to your advantage
With the amount of messages coming through every
minute, it’s easy to get side tracked and overwhelmed by
the sheer volume of noise.
This is where Twitter lists
come in — they allow you
to monitor specific groups
of individuals that are the
most relevant to you. Lists are easy to manage and
maintain right in the Hootsuite dashboard. You can also
update your lists with Hootsuite’s mobile applications.
Tip: Adding tabs to your Hootsuite
dashboard is an easy way to group
streams and keep your dashboard
organized.

5. 5SOCIAL MEDIA COACH GUIDE — TWITTER FOR HOOTSUITE
3. Publishing and Scheduling
Now that you have your Twitter profile set up in
Hootsuite, it’s time to take advantage of Hootsuite’s
publishing capabilities. You can publish a message right
away, or either schedule or AutoSchedule content to be
published later.
To compose a message:
1. Click to select a social network (more than one can
be selected).
2. Type your message in the compose box
3. Click “Send Now.”
Scheduling
Because social doesn’t sleep, there are always times
when you’re busy or out of the office and can’t be on
your mobile device or computer. Next time you have
some extra time to set aside, schedule some of your
messages for future release. This will help you stay on
top of your growing social audience.
For an indepth look at scheduling your messages,
download this Social Media Coach Guide.
To manually schedule a message:
1. After you’ve composed your message, click the
calendar icon in the bottom right-hand corner of
your compose box.
2. From the calendar, select the date and time for the
message to be sent.
3. Click “Schedule.”
To AutoSchedule a message:
1. After you’ve composed your message, click the
calendar icon.
2. In the drop-down menu, the AutoSchedule option is
set to OFF. Turn it ON.
3. Click “AutoSchedule.”
For more info on how to set up lists, check out this
HootTip

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4. Measure your Twitter Success
The next step to being able to publish and engage is
to monitor your growth and success. Hootsuite has a
variety of reports to help you understand the impact of
your social media activity, such as specific message link
clicks and Twitter follower growth.
With Hootsuite Pro, you decide which metrics matter
and then use our built-in analytics tools to track them.
For example, Hootsuite’s Ow.ly URL shortener allows
you to unlock the ability to track link clicks, as well as
shorten URLs. When you only have 140 characters to
get your message across, URL shorteners are essential.
For more information on shortening URLs, check out
this Social Media Coach blog post.

7. 7SOCIAL MEDIA COACH GUIDE — TWITTER FOR HOOTSUITE
Analytics modules available with Hootsuite Pro:
‹‹ Retweets — Count
‹‹ Retweets — Detailed
‹‹ Mentions — Count
‹‹ Mentions — Detailed
‹‹ Compare Keywords (line)
‹‹ Compare Keywords (stacked)
‹‹ Compare Keywords (pie)
‹‹ Follower Growth — Count
‹‹ Twitter Sentiment (English Only)
To Create a Report:
1. Click the analytics tab in your launch bar.
2. From the column labeled “Templates,” choose a
Twitter analytic module.
3. Select a Twitter profile.
4. Click “Create Report.”
To learn more about Hootsuite analytics, check out this
Social Media Coach webinar.
Resources
‹‹ Learn even more about Twitter for
Hootsuite from Hootsuite University.
‹‹ Twitter Basics
‹‹ Build Your Community
‹‹ Marketing With Twitter
‹‹ What Followers Can Do For Your Business
Webinars:
‹‹ Top 10 Ways to Improve Audience
Engagement on Twitter
‹‹ 5 Ways to Measure Success on Twitter
with Hootsuite
REGISTER NOW
To learn more about your Hootsuite dashboard,
join our free Social Media Coach webinars: